This jewel box of a garden pavilion was designed by the great British architect Sir William Chambers for James Caulfield, 1st Earl of Charlemont. It was begun in the late 1750’s and was finished around 1775. It is considered one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture of the period.
Despite it’s relatively small size from the outside the interior contains sixteen rooms on three separate floors. Chambers ingeniously arranged the rooms to maximize the Greek cross form of the building. The exteriors are richly adorned with a large assortment of egg and dart moldings, carved swags, triglyphs, metopes, and rusticated stonework. The most wonderful carved elements include the lion sphinxes that guard the pavilion at the corners, the carved figures above the cornices and the delightful urns that double as chimneys. The perfectly proportioned Doric columns also disguise downspouts from the roof.
The unusual name “Casino at Marino” translates from the Italian words Casino (small house) and Marino (small sea)-Small House by the Sea. Charming isnt it?
In choosing the color palette and the materials my inspiration was to paint it in traditional monochrome grey ink washes in the style of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. I felt that the strong neoclassical style of the building would look best using this method.
I have used black india ink for the painting, which eliminates the need for color mixing. As you can see there are various shades of grey in the painting from light to dark. In all I have used four shades of grey; light, medium, medium dark, and dark. These shades are achieved by how much water you add to your pigment. For the lightest wash I use a large ratio of water to ink. As I go darker additional ink is added to my pan. The india ink is highly concentrated so a little goes a long way making it an economical choice for my paintings. Plus I love the strong contrasts between the lights and darks.
Sorry to all for the long lapse of time since my past post but I hope you all enjoy my latest work.